WikiHow sues OpenAI over ChatGPT training data
WikiHow, Inc. filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on August 21, 2026, according to Reuters, which reported the suit on August 24. The complaint alleges that OpenAI scraped more than 11,000 wikiHow how-to articles without authorization to train ChatGPT.
The Allegations
WikiHow contends that OpenAI copied its instructional content "at scale," according to Reuters. The lawsuit represents one of the growing number of copyright claims against major AI labs over their use of third-party content in model training. WikiHow's library of step-by-step guides—covering topics from household repairs to professional skills—represents substantial creative work that the company claims OpenAI incorporated without permission or compensation.
The case joins a broader wave of litigation targeting large language model developers. Content creators, publishers, and media organizations have increasingly challenged whether scraping vast amounts of copyrighted material for AI training constitutes fair use or copyright infringement.
Legal Relief Sought
WikiHow is seeking unspecified monetary damages and a court order blocking OpenAI from further infringing its copyrights, according to Reuters. The complaint does not specify a dollar amount, leaving the damages calculation to court proceedings or potential settlement negotiations.
The case is assigned to federal court in Manhattan, placing it within the jurisdiction of judges who have begun seeing an influx of AI-related intellectual property disputes. The outcome could establish precedent for how courts evaluate data scraping practices in the training of large language models.
Significance for AI Training and Content Rights
This lawsuit underscores the tension between the data-intensive requirements of modern AI systems and the copyright protections that apply to original creative works. OpenAI has faced similar claims from other publishers and creators, making the resolution of this case potentially consequential for how AI companies source and license training data in the future.
The specificity of WikiHow's complaint—naming a precise number of articles and alleging systematic copying—provides concrete evidence of alleged infringement that courts can evaluate. Whether OpenAI's use qualifies as fair use under copyright law, or whether the scale and purpose of the scraping constitutes unauthorized reproduction, remains to be determined through litigation.